Wednesday, 7 January 2015

Gambian government statement on the events of 30 December - code name of President, Sheikh, Professor, Alhaji, Dr Yahya AJJ Jammeh was 'Chuck'

GOVERNMENT STATEMENT ON THE TERRORIST ATTACK

OF 30TH DECEMBER, 2014

On Tuesday, 30th
December, 2014, at 2am GMT, the State House was attacked by a well-equipped, well-funded
group of Gambian terrorists living in the U.S.A., U.K.,
Germany and Senegal with support from their collaborators abroad with
sophisticated automatic machine guns and assault rifles.

Five of these attackers
launched their assault from the main gate of the State House by the Albert
Market while the three others attempted to enter through the rear gate by
Marina Parade.

The leader of the
attackers was Lamin Sanneh (codename ‘Gibia’), a former Lieutenant Colonel of
the Gambia Armed Forces and former Commander of the State Guards Battalion who
was dismissed from the GAF and fled to Senegal and then to the U.S.

He was accompanied
by Njaga Jagne (codename ‘Bandit’), a retired Captain of the US Army; Baboucarr
Lowe, a former Warrant Officer Class 2 of the Gambia Armed Forces referred to
as ‘Bai Lo’ who was wanted in connection with drugs and fled to Senegal and
then to Germany; former Private Modou Njie (codename‘Mike’) of the Gambia Armed Forces and Private Landing Sonko
(codename ‘Young’), an active member of the Gambia Armed Forces who was on
study leave, was a former orderly of Ex-Lt. Col. Sanneh.

During the
exchange of fire at the main gate, Sanneh and Jagne were killed. Lowe and Sonko
escaped while Modou Njie was captured and is currently helping the intelligence
and security services in their investigations. Glass windows and buildings
pockmarked by bullets can be vividly seen by the gate.

The attackers from
the rear gate included Musa Sarr, Ex-Lance Corporal of the Gambia Armed Forces
(codename ‘Kampama’); retired US Army Sergeant Papa Faal and, Alhagie Nyass, a former
personnel of the defunct Gambia National Gendarmerie and one Dawda Bojang.

Faal
positioned a heavy machine gun by the entrance of the Accidents & Emergency
Unit of the Edward Francis Small Teaching Hospital and repeatedly fired rounds
at the gate. Nyass who attempted to ram his vehicle into the gate was shot dead.
Dawda Bojang who was dressed in military uniform and body armour and positioned
by a heavy machine gun was also killed. Musa Sarr and Papa Faal fled leaving behind
their equipment and military attires.

Other members of
the group were stationed at Brufut Heights, some 25 kilometres from Banjul, the
capital city. They were:

·Cherno
M Njie (codename ‘John’), the main sponsor of the attackers and proposed
Interim Leader. He fled the country after the attack failed.

·Alhagie
Saidy Barrow (codename ‘X’) was the coordinator of the group, responsible for
logistics and clearing of their weapons and other gadgets from the seaport.

·Mustapha
Faal is a Gambian resident in Germany. He deserted the group before the attack.
His whereabouts are not known.

According to documents
retrieved from the attackers, this group was to arrest and kill Service Chiefs
and other individuals. The team was awaiting the taking over of the State House
by the attackers and for the proposed leader, Cherno M. Njie to take over the
reins of power. All the four escaped and Cherno M Njie and Papa Faal are facing
legal charges in the United States.

After the
confrontation and the defeat of the attackers by the security forces, a large
quantity of arms was retrieved which included:

·Two (2)
Heavy Machine Guns with telescopic sights

·Seventeen(17)
M&P 15 individual assault
rifles with aiming devices

·Nine
(9) AKM automatic Assault Rifles

·Four
(4) Light Machine Guns

·Three
(3) pistols

·One
(1)Night Vision Goggle, (although
FBI reports that the group had two)

·Eleven sat
Pro Communication devices.

These gadgetswere intended to be used for communication among themselves and to
communicate to the outside world when they have destroyed the communication
infrastructure in the country after failing to capture the State House.

·Seventeen
(17) body armour

·Twenty
(20) webbing jackets

·Five (5)
camel bags.

It is clear from
the documents retrieved from the attackers that this operation was
well-planned. The documents revealed their intention to destroy key infrastructure
including the Central Bank of the Gambia building, Denton Bridge, GAMTEL House
and Kotu Power Station among other national assets.

It was also
discovered that the codename the attackers used to refer to the President of
the Republic of The Gambia was “CHUCK”.This is the same code name that the US
Secret Services used to refer to His Excellency, the President during the last
US-Africa Leaders’ Summit in Washington DC.

While we continue
to assess the situation and developments, the Government of The Gambia under
the leadership of His Excellency, the President, Sheikh Professor Alhaji Dr.
Yahya A.J.J Jammeh assures all citizens, residents and all true friends of The
Gambia near and far, that the security and stability of the Republic of The
Gambia will never be compromised.

The Gambia will
continue to depend only on Allah, the Almighty for the peace, security and
prosperity of our proud and dignified people.

The Government of
The Gambia thanks all those countries that have expressed their genuine goodwill
and solidarity with The Gambia in the wake of this terrorist attack.

Mary Harper

Welcome to my blog. I am a journalist and writer, specialising in Africa. I have reported on events on the continent since the early 1990s. I am Africa Editor at the BBC World Service and author of the book,Getting Somalia Wrong? Faith, War and Hope in a Shattered State, published by Zed Books. You can find out more about my work by looking at my website www.maryharper.co.uk. Posting pieces by others does not mean I endorse them.